1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for adjusting gaps between a plurality of members disposed in a line and a tobacco thresher adopting the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional tobacco thresher of this type comprises a rotor having a plurality of cutting teeth on its outer surface and a threshing basket provided to cover a lower portion of the rotor. The threshing basket have arcuated plates disposed at predetermined gaps in the axial direction of the rotor. Waved blades having a predetermined shape are formed on the two side edges of each arcuated plate. Therefore, threshing gaps having a wave-like shape are arranged in the basket in the axial direction of the rotor.
In the known thresher described above, when tobacco leaves are supplied from above the rotor during rotation of the rotor, the tobacco leaves are guided to the cutting teeth of the rotor and drawn inside the threshing basket. Then, the tobacco leaves are pushed out by the cutting teeth of the rotor and they are discharged from the threshing basket. In this case, the tobacco leaves are subjected to a threshing operation, i.e., a cutting operation by the waved blades of each arcuated plate of the basket and discharged downward from the threshing gaps of the basket. Therefore, as apparent from the above description, the cutting sizes of the respective elements of tobacco leaves, i.e., the leaf blade, the vein, and the petiole are determined in accordance with the threshing gaps of the basket.
When tobacco leaves are to be cut, the size of the threshing gaps of the basket must be adjusted in accordance with the kinds of tobacco leaves. For this purpose, a plurality of baskets having different threshing gaps are prepared for the thresher. When the thresher basket is replaced in accordance with the kinds of tobacco leaves, optimal tobacco threshing can be performed. However, the threshing basket replacement must be manually done and is thus very cumbersome. When the basket is to be replaced, the thresher, i.e., the rotor must be stopped, thus impairing operation efficiency of the thresher.